Civic chief criticises minister Akhila Priya

Kurnool: Nandyal Municipal Chairperson and TD leader Desam Sulochana has alleged that Akhila Priya, who joined the TD from the YSRC and subsequently became a minister, is a square peg in the party.

Sulochna fronts a proxy war on behalf of Silpa Mohan Reddy. “We, being TD leaders, are committed to developing Nandyal town. With majority in the Nandyal Municipal Council, we have mustered a plan to speed up works here,” she said.

“But what is appalling is that the Tourism Minister, who belongs to Allagadda, is trying to humiliate us by not involving either me or our corporators in laying foundation for the works in Nandyal town,” she alleged.

With an eye on Nandyal by-elections, Minister Akhila Priya has been speeding up the process of taking up pending works and starting new initiatives. While doing so, it appears that she is not involving Municipal Chairperson, who obviously belongs to the Silpa Mohan Reddy side.

Nandyal town presents a pathetic picture in terms of civic amenities. The roads in town are a nightmare for motorists. Road widening has been pending as rival factions are pulling their own strings.

Providing 13,000 houses to poor people, a dream project of the late Bhuma Nagi Reddy, is a challenge to the Tourism Minister. She wants to have her stamp on housing project as it was her father’s dream project.

But the Silpa faction says it is a government programme and grounded in Nandyal municipal limits. Therefore, the Municipal Chairperson must be involved in the activities, it contends.

Desam Sulochana, who spoke to Deccan Chronicle, said she was humiliated by the minister’s one-upmanship. ‘“We can’t swallow this humiliation any longer,” she said.

She sought the intervention of the Chief Minister to resolve this. “For whatever reasons, we are all in the same party. Then why are we being sidelined,” she asked. If the fight between these two women leaders continues, TD leaders worry that it might cast a shadow on election outcome.